Dollar General Stock Surges on Discount Retailer’s Results, Raised Outlook

Shares of Dollar General (DG) jumped in premarket trading Tuesday after the discount retailer posted better-than-expected first-quarter results and lifted its full-year outlook.

Dollar General reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.78 on net sales that increased 5% year-over-year to $10.44 billion. Analysts surveyed by Visible Alpha had projected $1.47 and $10.26 billion, respectively. Same store sales rose by 2.4%, roughly double the 1.22% bump analysts had forecast.

Dollar General CEO Todd Vasos said the company is “uniquely well-positioned to serve our customer in a variety of economic environments,” noting that it gained market share growth across merchandise categories and both its core customer base as well as “trade-in customers.”

The retailer lifted its outlook from what it laid out last quarter. The company raised the floor of its full-year EPS forecast by 10 cents to a range of $5.20 to $5.80; increased its net sales growth projection to 3.7% to 4.7% from 3.4% to 4.4%; and sees same-store sales growth of 1.5% to 2.5% compared with the prior 1.2% to 2.2%.

Dollar General ‘Has Plans in Place’ to Mitigate Higher Tariffs

The company said that “uncertainty exists for the remainder of the year regarding the potential impact of tariffs on the business, and particularly on consumer behavior,” and added that it “has plans in place” if tariffs on China and other countries return to their April 2 levels. Dollar General expects it will be able to mitigate most of the cost increases brought on by tariffs, but said “consumer spending could be pressured by tariff-related price increases.”

Dollar General shares were up 8% immediately following the report’s release. They entered the day up about 28% since the start of the year.

Discount store rival Dollar Tree (DLTR) is scheduled to report its own first-quarter earnings Wednesday morning. UBS analysts said in a recent note that they believe there are “more tailwinds than risks and uncertainties” for dollar stores in the current environment, citing consumers looking to trade down as a key benefit.